As expected, the second day of racing at the 2013 Tour de France saw a change in the standings as Radioshacks' Jan Bakelants overcame the edgy and tough turns of Stage 2 to finish the race first and take the Yellow Jersey from Stage 1 winner Marcel Kittel on Sunday.
As challenging as the Bastia to Ajaccio stage could get, Stage 3 of the world's greatest biking race will further test the bike-handling skills of the participating bikers with more befuddling roads waiting ahead of the peloton.
The Ajaccio to Calvi route, also dubbed as the rally of 10,000 bends, is expected to give riders more troubles than the first two stages. The 145 kilometer medium-mountain stage will feature narrow roads, dangerous turns, and sudden shifts of terrains, making it perhaps the first real challenge in this year's Tour.
About the Stage
Stage 3 will also take riders through the history-rich, picturesque roads of Ajaccio, the birthplace of former French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, to the last stop of the race in the island of Corsica: Calvi. Ajaccio has a population of 65,000 with rich fishing and maritime industry.
The leaders are expected to make a big push and establish a significant lead in this stage before the race goes to the mainland in Stage 4. Like the opening stages, the route to Calvi is filled with accident prone areas. A single mistake could deal a big blow to the contenders because the roads are a bit tricky to navigate.
NBC Sports will continue its coverage of the 2013 Tour de France on Monday morning (7:30 E.T) while TSM is set to supply live streaming links throughout the race.
Tour de France Classification Standings - Click here
Tour de France Stage 3 Route Information - Click here
Tour de France Online Livestreaming NBC (With Subscriptions) and TSM (Free Online Streaming).
- Contribute to this Story:
- Send us a tip
- Send us a photo or video
- Suggest a correction
